-
How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars
- The Snapchat Story
- Narrated by: Billy Gallagher
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
This audiobook is the improbable and exhilarating story of the rise of Snapchat from a frat boy fantasy to a multi-billion dollar internet unicorn that has dramatically changed the way we communicate.
In 2013 Evan Spiegel, the brash CEO of the social network Snapchat, and his co-founder Bobby Murphy stunned the press when they walked away from a three-billion-dollar offer from Facebook: how could an app teenagers use to text dirty photos dream of a higher valuation? Was this hubris, or genius? In How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars, tech journalist Billy Gallagher takes us inside the rise of one of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups.
Snapchat began as a late-night dorm room revelation, the brainchild of Stanford English major Reggie Brown who was nursing regrets about photos he had sent. After an epic feud between best friends, Brown lost the company to Spiegel, who has gone on to make a name for himself as a visionary - if ruthless - CEO worth billions, linked to celebrities like Taylor Swift and his fiancée, Miranda Kerr.
A fellow Stanford undergrad and fraternity brother of the company's founding trio, Gallagher has covered Snapchat from the start. He brings unique access to a company Bloomberg Business called "a cipher in the Silicon Valley technology community."
Gallagher offers insight into challenges Snapchat faces as it transitions from a playful app to one of the tech industry's preeminent public companies. In the tradition of great business narratives, How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars offers the definitive account of a company whose goal is no less than to remake the future of entertainment.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
No Filter
- The Inside Story of Instagram
- By: Sarah Frier
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing, Sarah Frier
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger released a photo-sharing app called Instagram, with one simple but irresistible feature: It would make anything you captured look more beautiful. The cofounders cultivated a community of photographers and artisans around the app, and it quickly went mainstream. In less than two years, it caught Facebook’s attention: Mark Zuckerberg bought the company for a historic one billion dollars when Instagram had only 13 employees.
-
-
Well Told Story of the Rise and Reach of Instagram
- By Jenny Jenkins on 05-03-20
By: Sarah Frier
-
Hatching Twitter
- A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal
- By: Nick Bilton
- Narrated by: Daniel May
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twitter seems like a perfect start-up success story. In barely six years, a small group of young, ambitious programmers in Silicon Valley built an $11.5 billion business out of the ashes of a failed podcasting company. Today Twitter boasts more than 200 million active users and has affected business, politics, media, and other fields in innumerable ways.
-
-
A Shakespearean Drama
- By Francesca on 11-09-13
By: Nick Bilton
-
The Airbnb Story
- How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions…and Created Plenty of Controversy
- By: Leigh Gallagher
- Narrated by: Christine Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the remarkable behind-the-scenes story of the creation and growth of Airbnb, the online lodging platform that has become, in under a decade, the largest provider of accommodations in the world. At first just the wacky idea of cofounders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb has disrupted the $500 billion hotel industry, and its $30 billion valuation is now larger than that of Hilton and close to that of Marriott.
-
-
Irritating voice
- By AmazonCustomer99 on 05-16-17
By: Leigh Gallagher
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Founders
- The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley
- By: Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, PayPal’s founders and earliest employees are considered the technology industry’s most powerful network. Since leaving PayPal, they have formed, funded, and advised the leading companies of our era, including Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, Yelp, Palantir, and LinkedIn, among many others. As a group, they have driven 21st-century innovation and entrepreneurship. Their names stir passions; they’re as controversial as they are admired.
-
-
Wonderful, Engaging & Insightful
- By Ismael Becerra on 02-26-22
By: Jimmy Soni
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
No Filter
- The Inside Story of Instagram
- By: Sarah Frier
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing, Sarah Frier
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger released a photo-sharing app called Instagram, with one simple but irresistible feature: It would make anything you captured look more beautiful. The cofounders cultivated a community of photographers and artisans around the app, and it quickly went mainstream. In less than two years, it caught Facebook’s attention: Mark Zuckerberg bought the company for a historic one billion dollars when Instagram had only 13 employees.
-
-
Well Told Story of the Rise and Reach of Instagram
- By Jenny Jenkins on 05-03-20
By: Sarah Frier
-
Hatching Twitter
- A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal
- By: Nick Bilton
- Narrated by: Daniel May
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twitter seems like a perfect start-up success story. In barely six years, a small group of young, ambitious programmers in Silicon Valley built an $11.5 billion business out of the ashes of a failed podcasting company. Today Twitter boasts more than 200 million active users and has affected business, politics, media, and other fields in innumerable ways.
-
-
A Shakespearean Drama
- By Francesca on 11-09-13
By: Nick Bilton
-
The Airbnb Story
- How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions…and Created Plenty of Controversy
- By: Leigh Gallagher
- Narrated by: Christine Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the remarkable behind-the-scenes story of the creation and growth of Airbnb, the online lodging platform that has become, in under a decade, the largest provider of accommodations in the world. At first just the wacky idea of cofounders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb has disrupted the $500 billion hotel industry, and its $30 billion valuation is now larger than that of Hilton and close to that of Marriott.
-
-
Irritating voice
- By AmazonCustomer99 on 05-16-17
By: Leigh Gallagher
-
Elon Musk
- By: Walter Isaacson
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.
-
-
megalomania on display
- By JP on 09-12-23
By: Walter Isaacson
-
The Founders
- The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley
- By: Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today, PayPal’s founders and earliest employees are considered the technology industry’s most powerful network. Since leaving PayPal, they have formed, funded, and advised the leading companies of our era, including Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, Yelp, Palantir, and LinkedIn, among many others. As a group, they have driven 21st-century innovation and entrepreneurship. Their names stir passions; they’re as controversial as they are admired.
-
-
Wonderful, Engaging & Insightful
- By Ismael Becerra on 02-26-22
By: Jimmy Soni
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
That Will Never Work
- The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
- By: Marc Randolph
- Narrated by: Marc Randolph
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of Phil Knight's Shoe Dog comes the incredible untold story of how Netflix went from concept to company—all revealed by cofounder and first CEO Marc Randolph. From idea generation to team building to knowing when it's time to let go, That Will Never Work is not only the ultimate follow-your-dreams parable, but also one of the most dramatic and insightful entrepreneurial stories of our time.
-
-
Cut off at the end of chapter 18
- By Penny posey on 09-25-19
By: Marc Randolph
-
The Cold Start Problem
- How to Start and Scale Network Effects
- By: Andrew Chen
- Narrated by: Andrew Chen
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although software has become easier to build, launching and scaling new products and services remains difficult. Start-ups face daunting challenges entering the technology ecosystem, including stiff competition, copycats, and ineffective marketing channels. Teams launching new products must consider the advantages of “the network effect”, where a product or service’s value increases as more users engage with it. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech giants utilize network effects, and most tech products incorporate them.
-
-
Great high level summary. More unique insights wanted.
- By Roman on 12-09-21
By: Andrew Chen
-
Like, Comment, Subscribe
- How YouTube Conquered the World
- By: Mark Bergen
- Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Across the world, people watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day. Every minute, more than five hundred additional hours of footage are uploaded to the site, a technical feat unmatched in the history of computing. YouTube invented the attention economy we all live in today, forever changing how people are entertained, informed, and paid online. Everyone knows YouTube. And yet virtually no one knows how it works.
-
-
Terrifying and enlightening.
- By Alan Seawright on 12-02-22
By: Mark Bergen
-
The Everything Store
- Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
- By: Brad Stone
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail. But its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, wasn't content with being a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become the everything store, offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low prices. To do so, he developed a corporate culture of relentless ambition and secrecy that's never been cracked. Until now.
-
-
Did you know how bad it is to work for Amazon?
- By Shamu from New York on 12-07-13
By: Brad Stone
-
The Upstarts
- How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World
- By: Brad Stone
- Narrated by: Dean Temple
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten years ago the idea of getting into a stranger's car or walking into a stranger's home would have seemed bizarre and dangerous, but today it's as common as ordering a book online. Uber and Airbnb have ushered in a new era: redefining neighborhoods, challenging the way governments regulate business, and changing the way we travel. In the spirit of iconic Silicon Valley renegades like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, another generation of entrepreneurs is using technology to upend convention and disrupt entire industries.
-
-
Are You a Wartime CEO or a Peacetime CEO
- By Dan Collins on 06-14-17
By: Brad Stone
-
Super Pumped
- The Battle for Uber
- By: Mike Isaac
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, Mike Isaac
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A New York Times technology correspondent presents the dramatic rise and fall of Uber, set against the rapid upheaval in Silicon Valley during the mobile era. Based on hundreds of interviews with current and former Uber employees, along with previously unpublished documents, Super Pumped is a pause-resisting story of ambition and deception, obscene wealth, and bad behavior, that explores how blistering technological and financial innovation culminated in one of the most catastrophic 12-month periods in American corporate history.
-
-
A forced narrative and a bad version of Bad Blood
- By Benji on 09-09-19
By: Mike Isaac
-
The Name of the Wind
- Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1
- By: Patrick Rothfuss
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 27 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.
-
-
Not sure why the reviews are so polar opposite.
- By Aaron Altman on 06-28-09
By: Patrick Rothfuss
-
Hyperion
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
-
-
The Shrike Awaits. Enter The Time Tombs...
- By Michael on 10-13-12
By: Dan Simmons
-
Cloud Atlas
- A Novel
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Kim Mai Guest, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite.... Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter....
-
-
thoroughly enjoyed
- By Elizabeth on 01-05-08
By: David Mitchell
-
The Source
- A Novel
- By: James A. Michener
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 54 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the grand storytelling style that is his signature, James Michener sweeps us back through time to the very beginnings of the Jewish faith, thousands of years ago. Through the predecessors of four modern men and women, we experience the entire colorful history of the Jews, including the life of the early Hebrews and their persecutions, the impact of Christianity, the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition, all the way to the founding of present-day Israel and the Middle East conflict.
-
-
Unlistenable
- By GGS Engineering on 09-11-15
-
The Four
- The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
- By: Scott Galloway
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are the four most influential companies on the planet. Just about everyone thinks they know how they got there. Just about everyone is wrong. For all that's been written about the Four over the last two decades, no one has captured their power and staggering success as insightfully as Scott Galloway. Instead of buying the myths these companies broadcast, Galloway asks fundamental questions.
-
-
Pessimistic and narrow minded
- By Patrick on 01-19-18
By: Scott Galloway
-
Build
- An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
- By: Tony Fadell
- Narrated by: Tony Fadell, Roger Wayne
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tony Fadell led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone and Nest Learning Thermostat and learned enough in 30+ years in Silicon Valley about leadership, design, startups, Apple, Google, decision-making, mentorship, devastating failure and unbelievable success to fill an encyclopedia.
-
-
Best guide for start up founders, ever!!!
- By Curly Beard on 05-28-22
By: Tony Fadell
Related to this topic
-
You Only Have to Be Right Once
- The Unprecedented Rise of the Instant Tech Billionaires
- By: Randall Lane
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the last three years, Forbes has published in depth profiles of this new batch of billionaires, including the founders of Spotify, Dropbox, Tumblr, and Twitter. Now, in a compilation introduced and updated by Forbes editor Randall Lane, fans and critics alike will get a comprehensive look at who these super-entrepreneurs are and what they say about their own success and their plans for the future.
-
-
Awesome book!
- By Jamal Love on 06-17-15
By: Randall Lane
-
Googled
- The End of the World as We Know It
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jim Bond
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Googled, esteemed media writer and critic Ken Auletta uses the story of Google's rise to explore the inner workings of the company and the future of the media at large. Although Google has often been secretive, this book is based on the most extensive cooperation ever granted a journalist, including access to closed-door meetings and interviews with founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Eric Schmidt, and some 150 present and former employees.
-
-
Audio production could have been better
- By David on 11-12-09
By: Ken Auletta
-
No Better Time
- The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet
- By: Molly Knight Raskin
- Narrated by: Christine Marshall
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No Better Time tells of a young, driven mathematical genius who wrote a set of algorithms that would create a faster, better Internet. It's the story of a beautiful friendship between a loud, irreverent student and his soft-spoken MIT professor, of a husband and father who spent years struggling to make ends meet only to become a billionaire almost overnight with the success of Akamai Technologies, the Internet content delivery network he cofounded with his mentor.
-
-
An Overlooked Hero of 9-11
- By Jean on 05-27-16
-
Frenemies
- The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (And Everything Else)
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An intimate and profound reckoning with the changes buffeting the $2 trillion global advertising and marketing business from the perspective of its most powerful players, by the best-selling author of Googled. Advertising and marketing touches on every corner of our lives, and is the invisible fuel powering almost all media. Complain about it though we might, without it the world would be a darker place. And of all the industries wracked by change in the digital age, few have been turned on its head as dramatically as this one has.
-
-
Good; not for beginners
- By DV on 10-05-18
By: Ken Auletta
-
What Would Google Do?
- By: Jeff Jarvis
- Narrated by: Jeff Jarvis
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a book that's one part prophecy, one part thought experiment, one part manifesto, and one part survival manual, internet impresario and blogging pioneer Jeff Jarvis reverse-engineers Google, the fastest-growing company in history, to discover 40 clear and straightforward rules to manage and live by.
-
-
Shallow and one-sided
- By JimmiJ on 02-04-09
By: Jeff Jarvis
-
Technically Wrong
- Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
- By: Sara Wachter-Boettcher
- Narrated by: Andrea Emmes
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Buying groceries, tracking our health, finding a date: whatever we want to do, odds are that we can now do it online. But few of us ask how all these digital products are designed, or why. It's time we change that. Many of the services we rely on are full of oversights, biases, and downright ethical nightmares. Chatbots that harass women. Signup forms that fail anyone who's not straight. Social media sites that send peppy messages about dead relatives. Algorithms that put more black people behind bars.
-
-
Pretty good but not complete
- By Casey on 10-29-17
-
You Only Have to Be Right Once
- The Unprecedented Rise of the Instant Tech Billionaires
- By: Randall Lane
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the last three years, Forbes has published in depth profiles of this new batch of billionaires, including the founders of Spotify, Dropbox, Tumblr, and Twitter. Now, in a compilation introduced and updated by Forbes editor Randall Lane, fans and critics alike will get a comprehensive look at who these super-entrepreneurs are and what they say about their own success and their plans for the future.
-
-
Awesome book!
- By Jamal Love on 06-17-15
By: Randall Lane
-
Googled
- The End of the World as We Know It
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jim Bond
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Googled, esteemed media writer and critic Ken Auletta uses the story of Google's rise to explore the inner workings of the company and the future of the media at large. Although Google has often been secretive, this book is based on the most extensive cooperation ever granted a journalist, including access to closed-door meetings and interviews with founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Eric Schmidt, and some 150 present and former employees.
-
-
Audio production could have been better
- By David on 11-12-09
By: Ken Auletta
-
No Better Time
- The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet
- By: Molly Knight Raskin
- Narrated by: Christine Marshall
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No Better Time tells of a young, driven mathematical genius who wrote a set of algorithms that would create a faster, better Internet. It's the story of a beautiful friendship between a loud, irreverent student and his soft-spoken MIT professor, of a husband and father who spent years struggling to make ends meet only to become a billionaire almost overnight with the success of Akamai Technologies, the Internet content delivery network he cofounded with his mentor.
-
-
An Overlooked Hero of 9-11
- By Jean on 05-27-16
-
Frenemies
- The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (And Everything Else)
- By: Ken Auletta
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An intimate and profound reckoning with the changes buffeting the $2 trillion global advertising and marketing business from the perspective of its most powerful players, by the best-selling author of Googled. Advertising and marketing touches on every corner of our lives, and is the invisible fuel powering almost all media. Complain about it though we might, without it the world would be a darker place. And of all the industries wracked by change in the digital age, few have been turned on its head as dramatically as this one has.
-
-
Good; not for beginners
- By DV on 10-05-18
By: Ken Auletta
-
What Would Google Do?
- By: Jeff Jarvis
- Narrated by: Jeff Jarvis
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a book that's one part prophecy, one part thought experiment, one part manifesto, and one part survival manual, internet impresario and blogging pioneer Jeff Jarvis reverse-engineers Google, the fastest-growing company in history, to discover 40 clear and straightforward rules to manage and live by.
-
-
Shallow and one-sided
- By JimmiJ on 02-04-09
By: Jeff Jarvis
-
Technically Wrong
- Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
- By: Sara Wachter-Boettcher
- Narrated by: Andrea Emmes
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Buying groceries, tracking our health, finding a date: whatever we want to do, odds are that we can now do it online. But few of us ask how all these digital products are designed, or why. It's time we change that. Many of the services we rely on are full of oversights, biases, and downright ethical nightmares. Chatbots that harass women. Signup forms that fail anyone who's not straight. Social media sites that send peppy messages about dead relatives. Algorithms that put more black people behind bars.
-
-
Pretty good but not complete
- By Casey on 10-29-17
-
Trade-Off
- Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don't
- By: Kevin Maney
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Trade-Off, Kevin Maney shows how these conflicting forces determine the success, or failure, of new products and services in the marketplace. He shows that almost every decision we make as consumers involves a trade-off between fidelity and convenience between the products we love and the products we need.
-
-
No Trade-Offs for Reading Trade-Off
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: Kevin Maney
-
Losing the Signal
- The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry
- By: Jacquie McNish, Sean Silcoff
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Losing the Signal is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Gerardo A Dada on 09-05-15
By: Jacquie McNish, and others
-
Alibaba's World
- How a Remarkable Chinese Company Is Changing the Face of Global Business
- By: Porter Erisman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September 2014, a Chinese company that most Americans had never heard of held the largest IPO in history - bigger than Google, Facebook, and Twitter combined. Alibaba, now the world's largest ecommerce company, mostly escaped Western notice for over 10 years, while building a customer base larger than Amazon's and handling the bulk of ecommerce transactions in China. How did it happen? And what was it like to be along for such a revolutionary ride?
-
-
Not bad
- By Daniel on 09-12-15
By: Porter Erisman
-
The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs
- By: Carmine Gallo
- Narrated by: Sean Mangan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, best-selling author Carmine Gallo reveals the qualities that make the Apple co-founder the most innovative leader in business today. Each principle is backed with research, quotes, and first-person interviews with experts and business leaders, as well as specific ideas for applying those principles to every business, large or small.
-
-
awful
- By Thomas on 10-15-11
By: Carmine Gallo
-
All the Rave
- The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning’s Napster
- By: Joseph Menn
- Narrated by: John Rubinstein
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The definitive inside account of the file-sharing revolution that overthrew the music industry, All the Rave reveals the family betrayal, greed, and mismanagement that hijacked one the most fundamental innovations of the Internet era. Named one of the three best books of 2003 by Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc., All the Rave has been out of print until now and unavailable in most formats. Author and veteran technology journalist Joseph Menn also wrote 2010's Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords who are Bringing Down the Internet.
-
-
The Far-reaching Karma of Napster
- By Susie on 04-29-13
By: Joseph Menn
-
Alibaba
- The House That Jack Ma Built
- By: Duncan Clark
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In just a decade and a half, Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded Alibaba and built it into one of the world's largest companies, an e-commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever. A Rockefeller of his age who is courted by CEOs and presidents around the world, Jack is an icon for China's booming private sector.
-
-
Strange: Best part of story happens "off-screen"
- By Tristan on 09-02-16
By: Duncan Clark
-
The Filter Bubble
- What the Internet Is Hiding from You
- By: Eli Pariser
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December 2009, Google began customizing its search results for each user. Instead of giving you the most broadly popular result, Google now tries to predict what you are most likely to click on. According to MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser, Google's change in policy is symptomatic of the most significant shift to take place on the Web in recent years: the rise of personalization.
-
-
Now in the top 3 best books I've ever read
- By Brian Esserlieu on 05-26-11
By: Eli Pariser
-
Friend of a Friend...
- Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career
- By: David Burkus
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if the best way to grow your network isn't by introducing yourself to strangers at cocktail parties, handing out business cards, or signing up for the latest online tool, but by developing a better understanding of the existing network that's already around you? We know that it's essential to reach out and build your network. But did you know that it's actually your weaker or former contacts who will be the most helpful to you? Or that many of our best efforts at meeting new people simply serve up the same old opportunities we already have?
-
-
The reality of human networks - How to Navigate, Create & Use them!
- By T.Om on 11-07-18
By: David Burkus
-
UnMarketing, Second Edition
- Everything Has Changed and Nothing is Different
- By: Scott Stratten, Alison Stratten
- Narrated by: Allison Stratten, Scott Stratten
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
UnMarketing shows you how to unlearn the old ways and consistently attract and engage the right customers. You'll stop just pushing out your message and praying that it sticks somewhere. Potential and current customers want to be listened to and validated and have a platform to be heard - especially online. With UnMarketing, you'll create a relationship with your customers and make yourself the logical choice for their needs.
-
-
Authentic and genuine people
- By Karin Bertelsen on 06-30-20
By: Scott Stratten, and others
-
Dream Year
- Make the Leap from a Job You Hate to a Life You Love
- By: Ben Arment
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if someone could guide you, step-by-step, as you identify, plan, and launch your dream career - in just one year. That's what Ben Arment does in his transformative coaching class, which has helped hundreds of people reinvent their lives to enjoy greater enthusiasm and fulfillment while also making a living. Now he's sharing his best insights, advice, and inspiring true stories in Dream Year. You'll find out how people just like you are discovering (or rediscovering) what they were truly born to do, then following a proven process to make it real.
-
-
Motivational!
- By ajanicad on 03-21-15
By: Ben Arment
-
Becoming Facebook
- The 10 Challenges That Defined the Company That's Disrupting the World
- By: Mike Hoefflinger
- Narrated by: Nicholas Techosky
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Facebook's founding is legend: In a Harvard dorm, wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg invented a new way to connect with friends...and the rest is history. But for the people who actually molded this great idea into a game-changing $300 billion company, the experience was far more tumultuous and uncertain than we might expect. Mike Hoefflinger was one of those Facebook insiders.
-
-
mainly a tribute to the success of FB
- By Anonymous User on 10-07-18
By: Mike Hoefflinger
-
Broad Band
- The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet
- By: Claire L. Evans
- Narrated by: Claire L. Evans
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Women are not ancillary to the history of technology; they turn up at the very beginning of every important wave. But they've often been hidden in plain sight, their inventions and contributions touching our lives in ways we don't even realize. Vice reporter and YACHT lead singer Claire L. Evans finally gives these unsung female heroes their due with her insightful social history of the Broad Band, the women who made the Internet what it is today. Evans shows us how these women built and colored the technologies we can't imagine life without.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Jean on 03-29-18
By: Claire L. Evans
What listeners say about How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dustin
- 07-08-18
Snappy Senses
Billy does a phenomenal job of portraying Evan as such a key component of the Snap brand. Really gives an “Ave snap user” an inside look at what the potential is like for Snap and how others view Snap.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-04-18
Not a very enlightening book, but fun to listen.
The author gives a overview of the life of the founders, and their journey, but not to deep. Not near the quality of the social network movie. I don't think is worth the investment, but is best then listening to some podcast.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simranjit Singh
- 09-05-22
Simranjit Singh
I will build a much bigger and better company than Snapchat. Very thankful to the Arthur of this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Metapon Amorntirasan
- 10-21-24
Too monotone
It’s just a boring lesson with the voice. The story is too in detail i think
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jorge Hoppe
- 01-25-24
Great story but poorly narrated
The author narrates poorly skipping over words constantly. A professional narrator would make this better.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RICH D
- 02-24-18
Informative Book -- Could not stop listening
Any additional comments?
I had a somewhat negative connotation of Snapchat and its founder because I only knew what I had read in the major stories about the company over the past several years. This book objectively goes from the very beginnings of the company through to mid-2017. The author went to school with the founder so he seemed to have access to common friends who work(ed) at the company to use as sources.The book is similar to the Hatching Twitter book, but I liked this one better because it was read by the author. The other book was read by someone who did different voices for everyone, which is distracting.In a way, this book reminded me of a Malcolm Gladwell book. Which is a great thing. There were many parts where it had "In order to fully understand x, it is necessary to go back and look at y". And we ended up with interesting backstories of related companies and trends and even a pretty thorough rise and fall story about a company called "Clinkle".The other good thing about the author's narration is he talks so fast that I didn't have to up the playback speed to 1.25x. This would probably be a 10+ hour book read by a professional reader.Highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David K. Jackson
- 05-15-21
Bad Luck...
Good story, but This book was published about 9 months before Kylie Jenner cost Snapchat 1 billion dollars in a day... after years of unprecedented growth!.. they haven’t regained market share to date. that’s bad luck.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bamagrad03
- 03-18-18
Good start, bland finish, hero worship abound
I have to echo the sentiments of another reviewer from Amazon, the book starts of decent and devolves into hero worship pretty quickly. It also feels like the author lacked material for an entire book, so the back half was meandering without much depth.
There are also a couple of other things I didn't love about the book. First, the writing is rather pedestrian. It really feels like Billy Gallagher isn't a seasoned writer. That's not to say it's bad, just basic.
The bigger issue I had is the one I often have with audio books: the author choosing to narrate. I understand the desire to have a youthful voice given the notion that Snapchat the product is targeted towards a younger demographic. But a book about Snapchat the business isn't necessarily the same target. Billy's voice and style just doesn't hold up to an entire book. I'll never understand why writers opt for themselves as narrators of audio books if they aren't seasoned orators.
I consume start up books like oxygen. And this one wasn't bad. It's a solid C+ in my opinion. But I couldn't get past the lack of 2nd half depth and fanboyism to fully enjoy it. I'd still recommend it, but I'd do so with the previously mentioned notes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert ONeill
- 03-16-19
Definitive journal on social media
I had no interest in Snapchat and have never used it HOWEVER this writer is an excellent journalist and narrator and does not waste words. This is fair and balanced honest and objective. If anyone was thinking about developing or improving a social media platform this is a must listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrew S.
- 04-17-18
Extraordinary story worthy of multiple listens!
What made the experience of listening to How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars the most enjoyable?
The author is fantastic at describing the surroundings with enough detail to paint the image. However, he's not too verbose, so it's easy to be engaged and get caught up in his story.
What was one of the most memorable moments of How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars?
The build-up of tension among the founders over their first summer -- some very tense moments.
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
This was my only issue. The narrator (I think it was the author himself) should've had someone else do the read. At times (especially when describing an apps user-interface that I've never seen) the narrator was just reading too fast so words were blending together and I had to rewind to understand him. I'd advise him to listen to the narration style of Jonathan Todd Ross for his future books (I really hope he writes another - I'm 100% in, no matter what subject matter)
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Ideas are worthless but execution is priceless
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!